Perfect Eyebrows: How to Get Hollywood's Best Arches

Anastasia Soare, celebrity brow expert, reveals her tips and tricks

Anastasia Soare shapes the arches of Hollywood's elite (think Penélope Cruz, Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Richie, and Kim Kardashian). So who wins the award for most requested brows? Kardashian. "Girls come in with a picture of Kim, telling me they want their brows to look like hers," says Soare. "But the stencil I use on her doesn't flatter everyone." To bring "balance and harmony" to your unique bone structure, Soare says choosing the right width, shape, and color is key—here, her tips and tricks for getting perfect eyebrows.

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Through Thick and Thin
"If you have a tiny face with delicate features, thick brows can be overwhelming," says Soare, adding that those with a low brow bone should also avoid going too full. "You want to open your eyes—if the space between the brows and the upper lashes is small, make the eyebrow thinner and more arched."

On the other hand, if you have a higher-set brow bone, thick brows are the more flattering option (otherwise, says Soare, your visage might look disproportionate). If you divide the face into thirds, "the spaces between the hairline and the brows, brows and nose base, and nose base to the chin should be equal in length," says Soare. Wider arches are also best for fuller faces, whose expansiveness can be magnified by thin brows.

Filling in the Blanks
"With the help of a pencil and/or powder, you can fill in spaces and create the appearance of lusher brows," says Soare. When grooming Penélope Cruz's brows for the Oscars earlier this year, Soare used Brow Wiz in medium ash and accentuated the arch by dusting highlighter underneath. To finish, Soare brushed on clear brow gel to keep hairs and pencil color in place. She calls brow gel a "hairspray for eyebrows" and says that if you don't have any handy, actual hairspray will do (mist on a fine-bristled toothbrush and comb through brows).

Color Theory
Though Madonna's dark-brows-with-blond-hair combo was chic in the 1980s, Soare says arches look best when they're within one to two shades of your hair color: "If you're brunette, they should be one shade lighter; if you're blond, they should be one shade darker." Rather than permanently dye the brows of her celebrity clients—whose hair colors change as often as their film and TV roles—Soare uses tinted brow gel to lighten and darken accordingly.